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Development

Shin Megami Tensei IV was first revealed by Atlus on May 29th, 2012 in the Japanese gaming magazine Famitsu along with the announcement that a first trailer for the game would be included in all releases of Devil Summoner: Soul Hackers for the 3DS.

The game was developed by Atlus's internal Team Maniax and directed by Kazuyuki Yamai who previously worked on the Maniax edition of Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne and the Devil Summoner: Raidou Kuzunoha games. Eiji Ishida, the art director of Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne and Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey has returned for this game as well. For the first time in the series, character and demon designs were not handled by Kazuma Kaneko, who instead provided story concepts. Instead, Masayuki Doi designed the characters while various artists related to Tokusatsu media were tasked with the demons. The music is composed by Ryota Kozuka, who also worked on the opening of the 3DS release of Devil Summoner: Soul Hackers.[3]

Consumer software chief Naoto Hiraoka explained that Shin Megami Tensei IV will feature a proper evolution of the series' mechanics and its gameplay along with a battle system that will retain influence from past titles. As such, Ishida noted that the feeling of wandering and surviving in a chaotic world has been improved extremely and the world is said to feel even more "desolate" than before. Furthermore, it was explained that the game includes approximately 400 demons - the highest number in the whole series.

Shin Megami Tensei IV is also the first game in the main series to feature full voice acting.

A new trailer was shown on September 17th, 2012, providing a first look at in-game graphics and the new characters and demons that will be featured in the game. An expanded version of said trailer was also shown at the Tokyo Game Show 2012. The Nintendo Direct broadcast from February 21st, 2013 included a new trailer for the Shin Megami Tensei IV that detailed various gameplay elements and included some new event scenes.